Times in Tanzania: Materuni Village and Waterfalls

Posing in front of Materuni waterfall.

One of my friends recently called me and asked if I would like to join him on an excursion out of town. I've been somewhat reluctant to go on day trips as most places require a bit of "local knowledge" to avoid paying imaginary fees (extortion), and since my Swahili is not yet up to par, an independent adventure seemed like more trouble than it was worth. However, when my Canadian friend said he "got a good deal" from a safari operator, I assumed that he had somehow squeezed us in with a tour group for a discounted rate. The Canadian speaks very good Swahili and lived down here some years ago and has recently returned. He appeared to have a decent network of people and seemed to be the perfect guy to set up an excursion. He even said the excursion usually cost $100 and included a coffee tour, so I was excited to get a seemingly great deal.

The Canadian told me it would cost around 30,000 TZS ($20.00) but he was vague on the details. This is not unusual for him but when I met him in the morning I was a bit disappointed. He had "met the guy on the street" and got a cheap deal because he "thinks the guy is desperate". We were scheduled to leave at 11AM, which in my opinion was extremely poor planning due to the midday heat. There was no tour group; just the two of us, and he had arranged the time as it was most convenient for him. He was also vague on the details of how much everything would cost. Since I know this guy is on the odd side, and outdoors excursions are certainly not his forte, I decided I would just go with the flow and see what would happen. After all, in the end it was also a scouting trip to see if I could replicate the journey without a guide at a later date.

Materuni is located 14km north of Moshi on the slopes of Kilimanjaro. We took a dala-dala up the mountain and got off near Materuni village. Our "guide" was from the area and it was nice to have him introduce us to some local people. We stopped into a shack and tried some "banana wine", a type of fermented local drink with a very earthy taste. The first few hours of the walk were basically through a rural village, certainly not bad but hardly noteworthy. Overall it was nice to be outside of the city but this niceness was offset by the fact we were walking at a steady incline in the mid-day heat.

We had arranged to have a "homestay" tour of a coffee farm, with lunch and coffee. This proved to be quite informal and poorly arranged. Apparently the Canadian thought there would be fish, but there was no fish. We ended up eating a very boring dish of boiled bananas (unripe). I was annoyed because they ended up charging us twice as much as a complete meal in town would cost (starch, veg, fruit, beans, meat), but once again fell victim to my friend's poor communication whilst planning.

Filtering the coffee so we can drink it or turn it into coffee candy

The family had a coffee shamba (field) nearby and gave us a quick tour. We picked some beans and they gave us a demonstration showing how coffee goes from the plant to the cup. I was disappointed when they said, "No one here drinks coffee. We just sell to wuzungu (whites)." Although they didn't drink the coffee, the kids enjoyed mixing the ground coffee with sugar and eating it straight like that. "Coffee candy" was the name and it was much better than expected.

Our "guide" pounding the coffee.

After we enjoyed the expensive meal lacking in nutrients (yes, I'm bitter) and a strong cup of coffee, we we were off again. At some point we ventured off the village roads and into a valley, and the scenery turned far more beautiful than our previous route. We walked on a narrow path passing small patches of farmland, houses, and water collection points with makeshift taps made of split bamboo. We could see across the valley to a similar landscape and I was impressed at how many mashamba (farms) were on the steep and sloping hillsides, yet how lush and tropical the area seemed.

View of the trail

Click on the picture to see this is not a shack, it's the "Waterfall Bar"

View of the valley.

As we approached the waterfall our guide told us there was a drunkard that would try to collect fees from us. He said the fee collection point was up at a local hospital though there was confusion in the village over who collects the fees and what they are used for. Apparently they have had difficulties taking ownership of the "tour programs." I wouldn't have been surprised if our guide just pocketed the money as I never saw any receipt or permit. In fact, I would have been even more skeptical that a fee even existed had it not been for the drunkard showing up and waving a letter in my face which did indeed state that the fee for the waterfall had gone from 5,000 TZS to 10,000 TZS in June 2013.

The drunkard pursued us for the last hour of the trail and met up with us as we approached the waterfall. He reeked of booze and although he wasn't too aggressive, I certainly saw the benefit of having our local guide. We ended up paying our guide 10,000 TZS ($6.23) each, which isn't bad, especially considering the time at the waterfall could easily be spent feeling uncomfortable or arguing with a drunk local. He also provided some interesting facts about the area, helped point out a chameleon that would have slipped by the untrained eye, and even picked some passion fruit from a low hanging branch.

The waterfall itself was spectacular. The falls are about 150m (500 ft) high and you could easily cross to the other side and climb along the rocks to sit behind it. You could also swim under the falls which is refreshing after a long hike. I look forward to returning, perhaps forgoing the "homestay" experience for a picnic instead!